Pages

Monday, February 25, 2013

Itseems to never fail that when I am commissioned to make a Wonder Woman piece, that she is requested to be the angry Frank Miller style amazon. This version of her seems to be picking up in popularity. Honestly, there is nothing wrong with that! When I think of amazon women, I don't usually think of Wonder Woman, but when I think of Wonder Woman, I think amazon. I think of her as tough, and wearing armor. I don't think so much of her having a lasso of truth so much as a lie deflecting whip. I prefer my fictional comic book amazonian to wear armor, carry a shield, spear, and sword. I'm not sure why I feel this way. I grew up in a time when I was used to seeing Wonder Woman jump around in tights, fly an invisible jet and have a sparkling lasso. The only things that I can think of that would sway me to view her this way is not just Frank Miller's portrayal of her, but Xena: warrior princess. I know it seems a bit of a stretch, but she's an amazon too, and really tough. And the personalities between the two are rather similar. It's been a while since I've seen the run of the Xena T.V. show. I have it saved in Netflix and I'm thinking I need to start watching it soon. Now I'm also thinking that I should do some Xena pin-ups! Oh, man, I love that amazon! IIAEEEE!!!

Just to let you know all know, I am taking commissions. If you would like to commission me for original artwork, head over to the commissions tab in store to see how.

If you have not heard about the Podcast called, "Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff", then it's time I let you know! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) Seems simple enough. We pick out a toy line to discuss in each show. We share our childhood memories, our favorite five, and talk about the one toy in the line that got away. Jeff talks about how he cherished his toys and I talk about how they ended up in the garden! The other two shows are The pilot episode, where Jeff and Josh Taylor break down the Pilot Episode in TV series, and The Loosely Based Podcast where Brynna and Jeff compare the book to the movie adaptation! The shows are great! If you are interested in what we got, go to Marvindogmedia.com and give us a listen. You can subscribe to the shows on itunes and get up to date info on upcoming shows on facebook:Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff on facebookThe Loosely Based Podcast on facebookThe Pilot Episode on facebook

Give us a like! And, if you like what we have, be sure to tell your friends! We need your word of mouth to help us keep making shows! And, be sure to give Jeff a hug.

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

One of the last great dragons of Middle-earth, Smaug rose to prominence by laying waste to the town of Dale and capturing the Lonely Mountain. His invasion of Erebor and his possession of theLonely Mountain made him extremely wealthy, since the Lonely Mountain was once home of Dwarves and still held much of their treasure.

Who doesn't love dragons? Dragons are one of the most recognizable creatures of myth. They are frightening and exciting at the same time. I will have to admit, I'm very excited about seeing Smaug in the upcoming Hobbit films. Only seeing his eye in the last film has put me on the war-path for anything dragon. So, when I had the opportunity to make a dragon custom toy, I decided that I should do my take on Tolkien's iconic monster. For this custom, I used a Creatology dino vinyl body. I turned the head around and used the fat snout as the back of the head. I then built the wings and rocky terrain out of wire, aluminum foil and original scultpty. I used a combination of fine gold glitter and coarse gold glitter to make the flow of treasure at his feet. I did add some glow effects to the rock and his eyes. There is really no reason for it, except that it looks rather cool in the dark. I'm pretty happy with how this guy turned out and hope that I can get around to making another dragon soon. Does anyone have any suggestions for dragons? Anybody?

Now, I've got some important updates, so more pictures will be at the end of this posting. Enjoy the pics. I've got to get back to illustrating comic books! :)

I purchased a table for the Dallas Comic Con in May. I look forward to seeing all of the familiar faces and hopefully some new people stopping by to chat with us.

Just to let you know all know, I am taking commissions. If you would like to commission me for original artwork, head over to the commissions tab in store to see how.

If you have not heard about the Podcast called, "Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff", then it's time I let you know! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) Seems simple enough. We pick out a toy line to discuss in each show. We share our childhood memories, our favorite five, and talk about the one toy in the line that got away. Jeff talks about how he cherished his toys and I talk about how they ended up in the garden! The other two shows are The pilot episode, where Jeff and Josh Taylor break down the Pilot Episode in TV series, and The Loosely Based Podcast where Brynna and Jeff compare the book to the movie adaptation! The shows are great! If you are interested in what we got, go to Marvindogmedia.com and give us a listen. You can subscribe to the shows on itunes and get up to date info on upcoming shows on facebook:Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff on facebookThe Loosely Based Podcast on facebookThe Pilot Episode on facebook

Give us a like! And, if you like what we have, be sure to tell your friends! We need your word of mouth to help us keep making shows! And, be sure to give Jeff a hug.

Monday, February 18, 2013

One of the art pieces that I did for this last convention was this beauty here. At first glance, you might think that this is Kitty Pryde, a.k.a. Shadowcat. You would be right and wrong at the same time. This is not only Kitty Pryde but, one of my Xenex fans, Reese, as Kitty Pryde. Kitty was her costume for the Sci-Fi expo for this year and she pulled it off nicely! I met Reese a year ago at the Sci-Fi Expo in 2012. She got all of the Xenex the Bug Man issues and took a picture with me. The second day of the convention, she brought me a pin-up print that she had made. I have that print hanging up in my office next to many great artists' work. I love it! Ever since that day, Reese and her mom have stopped by to see what I've been working on and have supported the Bug Man comic. I am very thankful to have this family as true believers of the Bug Man comic and look forward to seeing them at each convention. So, without any further delay, "Reese, you're the best! Thank you for all of the support!". I'll see you in May!

Just to let you know all know, I am taking commissions. If you would like to commission me for original artwork, head over to the commissions tab in store to see how.

If you have not heard about the Podcast called, "Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff", then it's time I let you know! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) Seems simple enough. We pick out a toy line to discuss in each show. We share our childhood memories, our favorite five, and talk about the one toy in the line that got away. Jeff talks about how he cherished his toys and I talk about how they ended up in the garden! The other two shows are The pilot episode, where Jeff and Josh Taylor break down the Pilot Episode in TV series, and The Loosely Based Podcast where Brynna and Jeff compare the book to the movie adaptation! The shows are great! If you are interested in what we got, go to Marvindogmedia.com and give us a listen. You can subscribe to the shows on itunes and get up to date info on upcoming shows on facebook:Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff on facebookThe Loosely Based Podcast on facebookThe Pilot Episode on facebook

Give us a like! And, if you like what we have, be sure to tell your friends! We need your word of mouth to help us keep making shows! And, be sure to give Jeff a hug.

Friday, February 15, 2013

There are times when I speak volumes of how cool my wife is for catering to my toy collecting habit. This is one of those times. As a collector, I do struggle at times to get away from work and stacking projects in order to hunt down those wonderful little plastic wonders that I love so much. So, back in 2008, when I felt that the 25th anniversary Joe line was kind of coming to an end, I was always on the look out for some of the last waves of action figures that I really wanted. One of the last guys I got from that years wave was this Cobra Ninja Viper. Ever since I saw press footage of this ninja, I knew that I had to have him in my collection. And who wouldn't want him, he's a BA ninja! When this toy hit the shelves, I had been working like crazy. I never really got away from work, and when I was home, I was trying to catch up on my artwork. To make matters worst, I ended up sick, so I was truly unable to go out toy hunting. One night I get a call from my wife. She was asking who it was I was looking for on my Joe roster. She had found a Cobra Ninja Viper, and wanted to make sure that I had not already picked one up. When she presented me with this toy, I instantly started to feel loads better and with good reason, this guy is chocked full of goodies! He has a back pack, two swords, and uzi, a dagger, a rope bundle, a claw, a pair of sickles, and a stand! One cool thing about this guy, other than the fact that he is an awesome Cobra ninja, is that you can actually place all of these items on the figure and there is nothing left that he can't hold, so he does not break Jeff's action figure rule: Toy has no more accessories than the character can hold.

I am on the hunt for most of the ninjas from the 25th anniversary line. I feel that they would go well with this uber awesome character in my collection. There are some new ninjas that have made me do a second look in the new Retaliation toy line. As soon as I finally see the Retaliation line back on the shelves here, I might have to pick up a few new action figures! You see more pics of this toy here on yojoe.com.

Just to let you know all know, I am taking commissions. If you would like to commission me for original artwork, head over to the commissions tab in store to see how.

If you have not heard about the Podcast called, "Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff", then it's time I let you know! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) Seems simple enough. We pick out a toy line to discuss in each show. We share our childhood memories, our favorite five, and talk about the one toy in the line that got away. Jeff talks about how he cherished his toys and I talk about how they ended up in the garden! The other two shows are The pilot episode, where Jeff and Josh Taylor break down the Pilot Episode in TV series, and The Loosely Based Podcast where Brynna and Jeff compare the book to the movie adaptation! The shows are great! If you are interested in what we got, go to Marvindogmedia.com and give us a listen. You can subscribe to the shows on itunes and get up to date info on upcoming shows on facebook:Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff on facebookThe Loosely Based Podcast on facebookThe Pilot Episode on facebook

Give us a like! And, if you like what we have, be sure to tell your friends! We need your word of mouth to help us keep making shows! And, be sure to give Jeff a hug.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Big Darkness, or Darkness, or Big D: Whatever you want to call this guy, it should end with awesome! Hands down, this has to be one of my favorite movie villains ever. When I saw the movie, "Legend", as a kid, I was absolutely in love with Tim Curry's make-up as the Dark Lord. It has such a nice mythological appeal to it; it definitely reminds me of a Greek Minotaur. Growing up, two scenes with this character stand out well to me. The first is of him stepping through the mirror to seduce Jack's bride to be, Lili, the second is of him sitting on his throne in blacklight, speaking of the darkness. With that being said, I do have another Darkness to make, hopefully before the next convention. (hint, hint) Now, this custom boasts the scene of him stepping through the mirror. He is made from a Creatology vinyl Devil kit. I used super sculpty and a load of foil to build the horns, face on his head. I also extended his arms, and widened his body using the super sculpty and foil. The mirror, base and legs were sculpted from original sculpty. So far, he is one of my favorite custom toy creations. We'll see if that remains the same when I decide to tackle Meg Mucklebones and Darkness on throne.

Now, I've got some important updates, so more pictures will be at the end of this posting. Enjoy the pics. I've got to get back to illustrating comic books! :)

I purchased a table for the Dallas Comic Con in May. I look forward to seeing all of the familiar faces and hopefully some new people stopping by to chat with us.

Just to let you know all know, I am taking commissions. If you would like to commission me for original artwork, head over to the commissions tab in store to see how.

If you have not heard about the Podcast called, "Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff", then it's time I let you know! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) Seems simple enough. We pick out a toy line to discuss in each show. We share our childhood memories, our favorite five, and talk about the one toy in the line that got away. Jeff talks about how he cherished his toys and I talk about how they ended up in the garden! The other two shows are The pilot episode, where Jeff and Josh Taylor break down the Pilot Episode in TV series, and The Loosely Based Podcast where Brynna and Jeff compare the book to the movie adaptation! The shows are great! If you are interested in what we got, go to Marvindogmedia.com and give us a listen. You can subscribe to the shows on itunes and get up to date info on upcoming shows on facebook:Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff on facebookThe Loosely Based Podcast on facebookThe Pilot Episode on facebook

Give us a like! And, if you like what we have, be sure to tell your friends! We need your word of mouth to help us keep making shows! And, be sure to give Jeff a hug.

Monday, February 11, 2013

I want to start off by thanking everyone that stopped by the booth to chat and to those that came by to commission me for work or to get art from me. Thank you all! Your visits to the site and purchases help keep me going to these conventions that I love so much! Jeff and I had a blast at this last Sci-Fi Expo! I didn't get anything signed by anyone famous, but I did end up picking up a Y-Wing Bomber that is in great condition and a few vintage He-Man action figures from the Darth Mall guys. I was really happy they let me hold an actual Savage He-man! I did an print trade with the excellent artist Devin Kraft an got a print of his ever awesome Boba Fett that you can see in his gallery! I gave Reese an art piece to celebrate the first year anniversary of her stopping by my booth and getting the full run of Xenex the Bug Man! I did have some interesting commissions that I ended up loving. The first was a Mikey as Harry Potter. I then did a Dr. Fate as Doctor Who. After that I made a Deadpool as Marty Mcfly, Michonne standing on a Umbrella shield, and a Queen Amadalek which I ended up giving to Gloria and her amazing chainmailer jewelry designer that were sitting next to me. You can visit Gloria's site here. Here's some pics of the commissions.

Again, thank you all! I did purchase another table for the Dallas Comic Con, so I will be back in May! Can't wait to see everyone then!

Just to let you know all know, I am taking commissions. If you would like to commission me for original artwork, head over to the commissions tab in store to see how.

If you have not heard about the Podcast called, "Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff", then it's time I let you know! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) Seems simple enough. We pick out a toy line to discuss in each show. We share our childhood memories, our favorite five, and talk about the one toy in the line that got away. Jeff talks about how he cherished his toys and I talk about how they ended up in the garden! The other two shows are The pilot episode, where Jeff and Josh Taylor break down the Pilot Episode in TV series, and The Loosely Based Podcast where Brynna and Jeff compare the book to the movie adaptation! The shows are great! If you are interested in what we got, go to Marvindogmedia.com and give us a listen. You can subscribe to the shows on itunes and get up to date info on upcoming shows on facebook:Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff on facebookThe Loosely Based Podcast on facebookThe Pilot Episode on facebook

Give us a like! And, if you like what we have, be sure to tell your friends! We need your word of mouth to help us keep making shows! And, be sure to give Jeff a hug.

Friday, February 8, 2013

Recently, I got a chance to pick up the Foot soldier from the new TMNT toy line. All in all, I am rather happy with this toy, but make no mistake, I do feel as though more could have gone into him. This guy has 10 points of articulation. He has a swivel head, ball swivel shoulders and thighs, and swivel hands, waist and elbows. He has one long sword, one short sword, a scabbard set and two throwing stars. I like that the swords can stow away in the working scabbard. I do kind of wish that there was a peg to do the same for the throwing stars. He boasts a black plastic with a primer grey paint application to his legs, red band painting to his head and has grey plastic for his arms. He looks a lot like the comic run of foot soldiers or even the way that these guys looked in the original film. They have a more realistic appeal over their original playmates release versions (I still have quite a bit of love for that original toy design). Now here's my problem, and has been my dislike for some of the pieces in this line; lack of articulation. I really feel that we could have used a ball jointing in the neck that would made posing a load better. I also feel that we could have used some more articulation in the legs. The articulation could have been in the knee, or even just a swivel in the foot. With his foot already being pre-posed in action form along with his legs, the only one way to really stand pose him is how he is shown above. That usually urks me greatly, but is toned done a little due to the fact that he does look cool and has a working scabbard.

You can find this guy pretty much anywhere including amazon. Here's his listing:

The table for the Sci-Fi Expo on February 9-10th is set up!!! I'll be there with some new work to sell,my pin-up girl posters, the newest issue of Xenex the Bug Man and custom toys. Jeff will be there with me selling some Marvindog media merchandise and taking toy memory recordings! Stop by, say,"hi", and show your support. Here's our booth! You will find us there tomorrow at the convention.

Just to let you know all know, I am taking commissions. If you would like to commission me for original artwork, head over to the commissions tab in store to see how.

If you have not heard about the Podcast called, "Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff", then it's time I let you know! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) Seems simple enough. We pick out a toy line to discuss in each show. We share our childhood memories, our favorite five, and talk about the one toy in the line that got away. Jeff talks about how he cherished his toys and I talk about how they ended up in the garden! The other two shows are The pilot episode, where Jeff and Josh Taylor break down the Pilot Episode in TV series, and The Loosely Based Podcast where Brynna and Jeff compare the book to the movie adaptation! The shows are great! If you are interested in what we got, go to Marvindogmedia.com and give us a listen. You can subscribe to the shows on itunes and get up to date info on upcoming shows on facebook:Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff on facebookThe Loosely Based Podcast on facebookThe Pilot Episode on facebook

Give us a like! And, if you like what we have, be sure to tell your friends! We need your word of mouth to help us keep making shows! And, be sure to give Jeff a hug.

Wednesday, February 6, 2013

At the last Fan Days convention I had a guest stop by and wonder if I had anything "Rygel" from Farscape. At the time I didn't. So, I decided to make a Rygel the XVI custom toy to have for this next convention. If it had not been for this request, I never would have thought to make any of the characters from Farscape, but I might try my hand at another character like Dargo or Scorpius.

This custom toy is made from of a Creatology little man vinyl body and has only one point of articulation that is at the neck. I really didn't feel that he really needed anymore articulation other than that. Rygel mainly sits in his floating chair in the series. He does have a hair like material in place for his mustache and eyebrows. One other big change from what I normally do to make these toys is that I used some very nice sculpty clay and molded pieces directly to the vinyl head then baked together. I feel that it turned out great.

So, guest, if you are reading this and you still want a Rygel custom toy, I'll have it at the Xenex the Bug Man/ Marvindogmedia table at the Sci-Fi Expo.

Now, I've got some important updates, so more pictures will be at the end of this posting. Enjoy the pics. I've got to get back to illustrating comic books! :)

I do have a table for the Sci-Fi Expo on February 9-10th. I'll be there with some new work to sell,my pin-up girl posters, the newest issue of Xenex the Bug Man and custom toys. Jeff will be there with me selling some Marvindog media merchandise and taking toy memory recordings! Stop by, say,"hi", and show your support. I hope to see you there!

Just to let you know all know, I am taking commissions. If you would like to commission me for original artwork, head over to the commissions tab in store to see how.

If you have not heard about the Podcast called, "Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff", then it's time I let you know! Jeff and I are on the show where we talk about toys! (Go figure, I mean Go action figure!) Seems simple enough. We pick out a toy line to discuss in each show. We share our childhood memories, our favorite five, and talk about the one toy in the line that got away. Jeff talks about how he cherished his toys and I talk about how they ended up in the garden! The other two shows are The pilot episode, where Jeff and Josh Taylor break down the Pilot Episode in TV series, and The Loosely Based Podcast where Brynna and Jeff compare the book to the movie adaptation! The shows are great! If you are interested in what we got, go to Marvindogmedia.com and give us a listen. You can subscribe to the shows on itunes and get up to date info on upcoming shows on facebook:Talking Toys with Taylor and Jeff on facebookThe Loosely Based Podcast on facebookThe Pilot Episode on facebook

Give us a like! And, if you like what we have, be sure to tell your friends! We need your word of mouth to help us keep making shows!

About Me

I'm an illustrator, and avid toy collector. I work on two comics currently: Xenex the Bug Man and Unstoppable Force. I love bacon cheeseburgers, burritos and tacos and could literally eat them everyday. When I'm not drawing, I like riding my bike and playing video games with my best friend, Matt.